Friday, July 07, 2017

[506] MTSU alumna helps ‘Black Girls RUN!’ for fun and fitness

MURFREESBORO — Ashley
Hicks-Rocha is on the run constantly, whether she’s actually running physically
or just working passionately on her project.

Since 2006, the MTSU alumna has embraced running as a health
regimen, an energy inducer and a psychological boost. Since 2009, she has promoted
the benefits of running through an organization titled Black Girls RUN!

The Atlanta-based group, co-founded by Hicks-Rocha and her
friend, Toni Carey, now has more than 120,000 members in 73 running groups
across the country. It also has more than 27,000 followers each on Twitter and
Instagram and more than 197,000 likes on Facebook.

“Specifically, for African-American women, we’ve embraced
the sport over the last couple of years,” said Hicks-Rocha. “It just wasn’t
something that I felt like was on our radar or something that our community
traditionally did. So, with that lack of knowledge, it became lack of
participation.”

The organization’s mission is to “encourage ALL (especially
African-American women) to make fitness and healthy living a priority,”
according to www.blackgirlsrun.com.

Following her 2005 graduation from MTSU with a degree in
mass communication and her achievement of a master’s degree from Columbia
University, Hicks-Rocha went to work for a television station in Augusta,
Georgia. She realized she needed to work out, but wasn’t quite sure how to go
about it, although she had played soccer in college.

“My cousin was actually running, and so I started lifting
weights and then running,” Hicks-Rocha said. “She … gave me some pointers, and,
a few months after getting started, I was like, ‘You know what, I actually really
enjoy this running thing.’”

Hicks-Rocha said she did not begin to investigate running
and training plans until after she had been running seriously for about a year.

“It’s such a great release of endorphins,” said Hicks-Rocha,
referring to the hormones the brain exudes during exercise, creating an
analgesic effect. “It’s such a great way to decompress and deal with stress.”

Black Girls RUN! raises money mostly through sales of
merchandise such as sweatshirts, coffee mugs, cell phone covers, visors,
running gloves and “RUN! Nation Under God” T-shirts. The group has a
partnership with Girls on the Run, an empowerment program for girls in grades
three through eight, and REI, the group’s official outdoor retailer.